Marriott's Grande Ocean Reviews & Ratings

This is our 4th time staying at the Grande ocean. The first year, we rented from an owner and everything went "swimmingly". Each year after that, something went wrong. 2nd year, rented from owner and our room view was looking at the air conditioning unit. (argued for a different room) 3rd year, no oceanfront available, lagoon view which was nice. this year, i am currently sitting and watching the ocean from my deck, however, it was not a quick check in. We wanted a corner unit and we got it, but there is one full bed and a sofa bed in the 2nd bedroom. No one wants to sleep on a sofa bed. My son said he didn't care, but i did, went back to the front desk, they had 2 rooms for us to look at, both overlooking a garden view. but they had two beds in the 2nd br. now, we had the choice of the sofa bed oceanfront or the 2 beds garden view. i paid for an oceanfront and wanted it. i complained until i had a regular mattress delivered instead of my son sleeping on a 3" mattress. be careful when you book that you specify you want 2 beds in the 2nd br. that's what they told me. also be aware that 10% of the rooms have sofa beds to sleep on. who wants to sleep on a sofa bed anywhere? especially on vacation. Please!!! update 2nd bedrooms for 2 beds. all units should be the same.

Gorgeous large units---gorgeous views ! Love this property. Charlene Canada, Colorado

We loved the Marriott Grande Ocean. The rooms were very nice, just loved our suite with the giant jacuzzi tub. The kids had a room with two full beds. My kids are 15 & 16 and had a blast at the beach. We went the last week in August, luckily there were no Jelly fish...There were 3 huge pools, never too crowded. You must rent bikes, there are bike paths everywhere. The kids got a kick out of seeing Alligators for the first time. While sitting by the pool I loved watching the Pelicans flying in groups overhead. At night we took flashlights to the beach and walked around. The sand is very firm, you can ride bikes along the beach too. The only bad thing about the resort were some of the activities. About 50 kids signed up for bingo, some kids paid $2 card and got 4 cards each. The prize was a box of candy that was worth about $2. It was a ripoff because there were only 4 games played and 4 boxes of candy given out. It was sad seeing all the kids asking for boxes of candy and being turned away. Wonder what they did with the $150 they collected for 4 games of bingo? All in all it was a great time...

My first stay at the Marriott, was extremely pleasant and trouble-free. Very nice grounds and the pools were clean and gas grills outside actually worked very well. Parking was a little tight as spaces were sometimes a little sparce. The room had recently been updated as was big enough for 6, easily. Check in/Check out was a breeze and the activities for the children were not that cheesey to participate in...Beach Access was very easy and well taken care of with Lifequards on-site and umbrellas & chairs. The resort is located very close to Cologny Square where there is a decent food store (piggly wiggly) and first class seafood restuarant called Aqua House...

The only thing, as with any resort, is too watch the fee's. The pantry store and the food at the poolside's can add up quickly due to high prices. But your on vacation, that is what is expected. I also liked the way the resort had different activities during the day all planned out in a weekly newsletter so you had plenty of time to sign up for anything. Nothing sold out when we were there so we could decide the day before.

I would highly recommend this property over the Marriott Monarch which is just down the road in Sea Pines. I had stayed there the week before and even though it was a very nice place as well, I thought it was scaled down for the quiet retired people instead of young families.

It will be without a doubt, a long year before I can return to this beauiful resort...I do not even remember how to get to Destin, Florida which I vacationed at for several years beforehand thanks to Hilton Head.

11 years ago, we invested in two weeks here, one summer and one winter. Our kids were all teens at the time. They loved it then, and now one is married and we have a grandson, and the other three have their girl friends and boyfriends. And again in June of 2008 we all will be returning for a family vacation. It seems that the magic of Marriott continues providing memories for a lifetime. Every year since 97 either all or most of our kids have returned to the island with us. My only mistake back in 97 was not buying 2 summer weeks.... We have used the winter week for points, and exchanges, the most significant exchange was giving our daughter and son in law a week in Maui (the Ocean Club) for their honeymoon. How can you beat that..... I suspect we will vacation here for years to come....

The best vacation our family has ever had! Grande Ocean has it all! The condos are awesomely nice with granite countertops and plush bedding. The second bedroom has two queen beds. There's a very large living room too! This place had a five-star resort feel with very friendly staff. Marriott cares that their guests rate their vacations a perfect TEN and truly, it was. There are six tennis courts across the road with Marriott's own excellent pro, Rem and his sidekick, Mike. Besides tennis, we rented bikes (just $25/week) and rode all over Sea Pines and the beach. The resort grounds are gorgeous and the landscaping has been cut back so the views are amazing. There are four or five pools and many hot tubs, pool tables, ping pong, and gas grills at many different locations throughout the resort. There are many free activities available. Great high speed internet access, too. There is NOTHING not to like about this place and no unit is more than a three minute walk to the beach. I know anyone who stays here will absolutely love it! When we left, my husband told the kids to say goodbye to the Marriott and our son spoke for all of us when he said, "Goodbye, paradise!"

I stayed in a 2nd floor corner ocean front villa (ocean view was obstructed because of landscaping that has grown tall) at resort during the week of 11/5 to 11/12 with my wife and two kids. We stayed in 89 building (the one behind Jim's Pool Bar). The resort is great, and the villa was wonderful. It will be spectacular when the kitchen is renovated with granite counter-tops. The location of the Grande Ocean is ideal because it's close to many restaurants (the kids liked Aunt Chiladas and Kurama) and shops, near two large grocerery stores (ask customer service at the bi-lo for a temporary discount card), it's very near Sea Pines and the wonderful bike trails there, and it has a great beach. The outside pools that aren't heated were cold (1 outdoor lap pool, the indoor pool, and all the outdoor spas are heated), but that's to be expected for the time of year. I've been to other Marriott timeshares on Hilton Head, but I like the Grande Ocean best of all because of it's location.

Best vacation our family ever had! It will be the standard we use to judge all places. Great location. Plenty to do, and also a great place to do nothing!

We love it here! It has everything you could want in a relaxing and enjoyable vacation with the family. Don't miss the pool bar and say hello to the amazing bartender, Jim, while you're there.

Great Property. If you are interested in additional weeks on Hilton Head, Please call 843-368-7433

We own an ocean-front unit here and love it. Bought it 12 years ago and have stayed here and traded this unit anywhere we have wanted - Caribbean, Hawaii, Australia, etc. Gorgeous views at this resort and nicely-decorated, spacious units. Free parking, peaceful, and on the beautiful island of Hilton Head. What more could one ask for?

Our trip to The Grande Ocean was our first trip to Hilton Head and our best. I found the location if this resort to be the best on the island. We like to rent bikes and ride just about everywhere and you could definitely do it from there. We used our bikes daily. The staff was excellent the room was beautiful and the activities were great. I would definitely stay here again.

Resort area and room was very nice. The pools were not too crowded. However the Dolphin pool is the one for small children and was very cloudy all week. We like the Grande Ocean well enough to buy a unit for next year.

My family of six just LOVES this resort! We've been vacationing at the Grande Ocean for 4 years and were having trouble finding a rental this summer. We suggested to the kids that we stay somewhere new and they all cried, "NO!". Luckily, I found a listing on RedWeek and we got a great ocean front villa that had just been refurbished. The furnishings and decor were just beautiful! My kids (ranging in age from 4- 9) love all of the activities that are available...tie dying tee shirts, ice cream socials, candy making, turtle watching, making shark tooth necklaces etc. We love how convenient and close we are to the beach. Carrying all of our beach "stuff" can be cumbersome so the short walk was appreciated. You can do as much or as little as you'd like...bike rentals, shuffle board, tennis etc. There's a great outdoor bar that makes delicious frozen drinks (non-alcoholic too). Hopefully, we will be vacationing here for many years to come. K. Graham

5th floor, ocean front .. very short walk to ocean.. convenient to everything. plenty of stuff to keep the kids busy. like all of hilton head, lacking on the night life.. marketplace is spartan, so bring your own groceries if you so choose. ocean goes forever.. no sea weed, no rocks .. just nice hard packed sand. place is spotless.. staff very friendly.. plenty of pools to keep you refreshed. tennis, shuffleboard etc all included.. tennis staff extremely pleasant